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Excavation of a Bronze Age Burial Site Pier Road, Armadale, Isle of Skye

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Excavation of a Bronze Age Burial Site Pier Road, Armadale, Isle of Skye Excavation of a Bronze Age Burial Site Pier Road, Armadale, Isle of Skye Ryefield Farm Tore Ross-shire IV6 7SB Scotland Email: [email protected] Mob: 07776 027306 Ph: 01463 811310 ARM09 Data Structure Report 2011-04/ARM09 Excavation of a Bronze Age Burial Site at Pier Road, Armadale, Isle of Skye Data Structure Report Excavation summary and preliminary findings January 2011 Mary Peteranna Ross and Cromarty Archaeological Services Funded by: Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association UBC Group Ltd 2 ARM09 Data Structure Report 2011-04/ARM09 Contents Cover photo: Lifting of the Cist 3 capstone 1 Summary 5 2 Introduction 5 3 Site location, topography and geology 5 4 Archaeological background 6 5 Aims and objectives 8 6 Methodology 8 7 Results 9 8 Summary of archaeological finds 24 9 Discussion 30 10 Conclusion 35 11 Cleaning and conservation 35 12 Scottish Treasure Trove reporting 35 13 Publication, education and presentation 35 References 37 Figures 1 Site location 6 2 First Edition OS map showing Armadale Bay 7 3 Site plan of the main burial site 14 4 Section 39: Feature 10 in profile (E-facing) 16 5 Section 42: Feature 16 in profile (N-facing) 18 6 Plan 44: Stone setting at base of Feature 19 20 7 Section 49: Feature 19 in profile (SE-facing) 21 8 Plan 26: Cist 3 49 Plates 1 Cist 1 and Cist 2, contents in situ 11 2 The main burial site 38 3 Cist 3 inhumed remains 39 3 ARM09 Data Structure Report 2011-04/ARM09 4 Cist 3 skull remains on cobbled floor 40 5 Cist 4 inhumed remains in situ 41 6 Decorated pot sherd from Cist 5 42 7 Cist 7 inhumed remains 43 8 Cist 7 skull and teeth remains 44 9 Five flint tools from Cist 7 45 10 Wrist guard and decorated food vessel from Cist 4 46 11 Dismantled stone / post circle 47 12 Feature 19 cairn and burial structure 48 Appendices Appendix 1 Index of Features 50 Appendix 2 Index of Contexts 61 Appendix 3 Index of Finds 75 4 ARM09 Data Structure Report 2011-04/ARM09 1 Summary An archaeological excavation was carried out at Pier Road, Armadale, Isle of Skye on behalf of Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association. The excavation uncovered a Bronze Age burial site centred around one large cist encircled by a ring of interconnected pits and three standing stones. Six further cists containing inhumation and cremation burials and pits containing cremated remains were uncovered across the site. Preservation of the inhumed remains was extremely poor. Three decorated food vessel pots, fragments from a fourth decorated pot, a fragment of a stone wrist guard and a group of five finely made flint tools were recovered from the cists. Possible earlier structures were also revealed below and beyond the main burial site. A variety of lithic materials were also found scattered across the site deposits. A kerbed cairn appeared to have been the final closure phase of the site. 2 Introduction The excavation took place as a result of an archaeological watching brief in August 2009, which uncovered two cist burials, during the early phases of development of the Pier Road, Armadale site for housing1. Excavation immediately followed the watching brief from September 2009 to January 2010. Prior to site clearance, there were no visible features on the ground nor were there any known sites of archaeological interest within the boundaries of the site. The excavation revealed a complex site likely spanning and possibly even predating the Bronze Age. The archaeological features on the site included seven burial cists, a stone and timber post circle, five pits containing cremated remains, a small cairn with burial setting, two hearths, a kerbed cairn and other pits and postholes. The assemblage of artefacts recovered during excavation consists of ceramic and stone burial goods from the cists and scattered lithic tools and debitage throughout most contexts. The archaeological evidence showed that use of the site had been purely for funerary purposes. There was no artefactual or structural evidence for domestic occupation. The fieldwork also included clearance of a previously known chambered cairn site located approximately 50m to the north of the excavation. Interpretation and presentation of the cairn was a requirement attached to the initial planning condition. 3 Site location, topography and geology The development site was located in Armadale at southern end of the Sleat Peninsula, Isle of Skye on the west coast of Scotland. The excavation site was centred at Ordnance Survey (OS) National Grid Reference (NGR) NG 6365 0382, located in the northeast corner of the planned development, on the north side of Pier Road which accesses the Armadale-Mallaig ferry terminal. The burial site had been constructed on a spit of shingle beach at about 8m OD, situated to the south of a chambered cairn (Highland HER # MHG5246) located on top of a bedrock outcrop at about 15m OD. The site was bordered from west to northwest by an artist’s studio, a private house and a filling station. The landscape beyond this extends uphill over forested slopes to open moorland. Armadale Bay and the Sound of Sleat are located to the east and south of the site, which gives seaward access to the Inner Sound of Skye to northeast, the Scottish mainland to east and the Inner Hebrides to south-southwest. 1 Highland Council Planning Department, SL-06-142: Mixed-Use Development at Pier Road, Armadale. 5 ARM09 Data Structure Report 2011-04/ARM09 Figure 1 Site Location2 4 Archaeological background Although there were no known earlier structures or archaeological sites within the development area, a large burial cairn (Highland Historic Environment Record (HHER) #MHG5246) is located 50m north of the site at NGR NG 6368 0387. In 1961, a long cist burial was uncovered near Armadale pier near the southeast side of the development site at NGR NG 6374 0379. The cist, which contained partial remains of an 2 Mapped reproduced with permission of ProMAP Licence no. LIG1044 6 ARM09 Data Structure Report 2011-04/ARM09 inhumation burial, measured about 2’ wide by 6’ long on an E-W orientation and had been constructed of 2-3’ long stones and covered with several capping slabs. It was uncovered approximately 1’ below the sandy gravel subsoil, and there is no further information about the burial, the remains of which were reinterred in nearby Kilmore graveyard. It has been said that another burial had been uncovered near the site approximately 70 years prior, although there is no formal record of this3. The development area was thought to be, for many generations, a burial 4 site from a legendary clan battle . The First Edition Ordnance Survey map, below, shows the development site as cultivated fields adjacent to the bay. Local members of the community attest that the site was last used for grazing and as a local playing field5. Figure 2 First Edition OS map of Armadale Bay6 The geology of the Sleat Peninsula is a complex result of Caledonian thrusting: Lewisian gneiss is overlain by Torridonian rocks comprising an older Sleat Group of fine metamorphosed sandstone and shales and a Torridon Group of red sandstones. These underlie Cambrian quartzite and Durness limestone. The three thrusts account for “an upside-down stratigraphy” where the eldest (gneiss) rock lies above Moine schist, which overlies the newer rock7. Nearby to the site, schist outcrops and basalt dykes are an obvious feature of the geology and a disused schist quarry is located 100m NW of the site. The natural subsoil on the site was mostly pea-sized rounded gravels with some areas of sand interspersed. 3 HHER #MHG5244 4 Pers. comm. S. Thrinefal. 5 Pers. comm. S. Thrinefal. 6 National Library of Scotland. Http://www.nls.uk 7 Gillen, Con. Geology and landscapes of Scotland. 2002: 152. 7 ARM09 Data Structure Report 2011-04/ARM09 5 Aims and objectives The aim of the fieldwork was to identify, record and excavate in entirety all of the archaeological features and finds on the site, in order that the archaeology be preserved in record prior to its destruction during development. The Scottish Planning Policy 2010 describes how archaeology should be managed when considering planning decisions and determining conditions for developments that have an impact on the historic environment8. The work was in accordance with the follow-up work required as per the original planning requirement specification and written scheme of investigation (WSI) for the excavation phase of this project9. The specific objectives were: • To establish the presence or absence of archaeological remains within the area immediately surrounding the two cists identified during the watching brief • To remove by hand any overburden in order to expose the archaeological deposits • To section and record all features or structures according to standard methodologies for good practice • To sample buried soils and other archaeological deposits in order to gather information on the contemporary environment as well as material for dating • To fully excavate features, safeguarding structural stonework, when possible, for future reconstruction of the site • To assess the surrounding area for evidence of other cists or associated features • To clear off vegetation from the prehistoric cairn (HHER# MHG 5246) in order to characterise and plan the site 6 Methodology 6.1 Desk-based assessment An assessment of desk-based sources was undertaken prior to conducting the initial watching brief. This included the records held by the National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS), Highland Historic Environment Record (HHER), Clan Donald Archives, historical mapping, statistical accounts, aerial photography and other literary and archival resources. 6.2 Excavation and recording The excavation took place in three phases, the latter two of which were conducted under ever- increasing constraints due to deteriorating weather and daylight conditions.
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